On a side note a few miles from where I live there was a story of the police charging a guy in his early 20's for openly carrying within 1000 ft. of a school. He was riding his bike to a friends house to show off his new gun. It turned out he was more than 950ft away. I understand how bystanders would be concerned though because he was dressed in camo.

Unless I had a badge on my belt right next to my holster, I would not open carry anywhere but the range or my own land. I just think that it attracts far too much attention. I see no benefit in open carrying a weapon as an average citizen. But that's just me.

And yes... Haha... a civilian wearing camo in the middle of the city screams survivalist (or just plain weird). I wouldn't call the police but I could see where people would feel uneasy by someone in BDUs openly carrying a pistol.

Madison is a University town-liberal I guess with plenty of young people who aren't gun fans. A guy with a pistol strapped to his belt-in camouflage-would scare lots of folks.
If he were riding by and stopped by my house-I would get out a pistol-SIG 229- or a rifle Mini 14(probably the pistol since I keep a loaded clip in it-but if I had the time, I would get the rifle-obvious reasons) -until he was out of reasonable gun shot range.No way would I just assume he was ok(not a crazed mf).

Of course,I'm maybe a little bit extreme-like Vincennes says-Just my opinion.
Another subject-I really don't want to see guns openly carried at a political rally-don't care if it is legal or not-I have no idea if that gun carrying guy is a crazy SOB or just a guy making a point.No I won't give him the benefit of doubt. I would leave.Conceal your gun, so I don't have to worry about your state of mind.

Displayed weapons are always veiled threats. Scrawny cop has a gun displayed for a reason."See this gun-Do what I say or I'll shoot you."

My wife and I carry guns with us everywhere we go. We have permits and we use our heads. You don't walk into a bank, government or school building with it. Our local Walmart posted signs on the front doors stating no firearms allowed. There were people walking into the store with there sidearms, I can understand why they would get nervous. Around here if people called the police everytime there was a person in camo then the police would be VERY busy.

Silverado-do you carry concealed- or open? Permit-so must be concealed.
Concealed doesn't bother me.
Open carry of a pistol-now I have to worry about it.Just who are they warning-open carry is a warning to someone/everyone.
Besides I don't want someone to know that I have a $500 handgun on me.
Heck, he might just shoot me for the $500 gun! It is like displaying a wallet with a wad of cash in it.What good can come of it?
Besides-some folks spend HUGE $$-$2000-on fancy 1911 type carry guns.Doesn't seem like a great idea to wave that kind of cash around.
Same reason cow towns didn't allow open carry-drunks crazies and idiots who get angry.
I don't care about the camo- it is the 1000 fps metal spitter he has that worries me.
Just makes me nervous. I want to get my gun just in case they are a CMF.

Phoebeisis;
Well you certainly deserve a prize but I have nothing to give. My reward was 5 minutes of rauchous laughter. I'm still chuckling when I think about it. It was just perfect phraseing & word choice and really hit me.

As far as "open carry" I think most people do it because CCP are difficult to obtain in a LOT of states & counties, but there are open carry laws already on the books, hence they open carry. Here in my county, you either have to take the class (a good thing in a lot of cases) OR you can show military records showing that you were/are proficient in the use of the same type of weapon that you wish to carry. I tried to get a CCP on this basis when my military rec were still current, but the Co. sheriff can still make the final decision 'yes or no" and I think he denied me because of his personal feelings (because of my traffic tickets) the mutt just didn't like me. I've never been arrested, detained, nothing!! The only reason I could think of he denied me is I had a few traffic tickets.

Glad you weren't flooded out. A lot of us were thinking about all of you when Kat was going on. We watched it on the news every night.

Ditto on the "Culvers" question. What is a Culvers Trapstud? Is it a coffee house like Starbucks? Out here Starbucks (& many other businesses) stand by its patrons on "open carry" laws. It was a big issue a few months back when Sarah Brady and HCI was trying to bash Starbucks and stir the pot about it. The "Brady Bunch" & HCI ended up looking like a bunch of fools, which of course is normal for them since they've never read the Constitution ha ha ha

p.s.
OK WHO put that ugly picture of "Billary" beside my post? I don't mind, but would rather be lookin at Paris Hilton, or Natalie Cigliutti. Just so you know I, we, family, friends, dogs, cats and rats all signed that petition months ago, (even my imaginary friends signed it) It is not a one person per email petition, so get all your friends and family to sign it too ;-)

Stephan- you have a Jenson Bike shop ad next to your post right now (I occasionally bought stuff from them-good prices-when I wasn't broke)
Trapstud has a Goodwrench oil change ad-
Vincennes,Silverado and I don't rate any ad now.
Maybe I should bust a cap on those discriminatory ads!
We got lucky on the water.

I occasionally conceal a pistol and carry it-no permit-just going somewhere at night where I figure it could be useful.
Usually the only time I have one is when we are driving at night in the city-legal to have one in your car. Don't every walk up to a white 1998 Suburban and ask for a cigarette or anything else.